The Dinner Guest
by sandhill
Summary: What happens when the Bundy's nephew Ted drops in. Enfluenced by the Netflix documentary on Ted Bundy.
1. Chapter 1

This is written somewhat as a screenplay.

Snow blankets the Windy City. It's a clear peaceful winter day.

"It was one of those lazy chilly Chicago Saturdays where you didn't want to go outside when dad announced we'd be getting a visitor." Kelly's voice narrates.

The scene changes to inside the Bundy home.

Al hung up the phone in the kitchen and hurried into the livingroom excited. "Hey, good news Bundys. I just got a call from my sister. My nephew will be dropping in. Haven't seen'um in a while."

"Oh that's great!" Peggy started in. "Now he'll expect me to cook an actual meal... for more than our usual amount too. How big is the 'nephew' of yours?"

"And actually clean some-" Kelly chimed in sarcastically. They're both on the couch watching tv. Bud overhears, and walks into the room interested to join the conversation.

Al interrupted impatiently, "It won't hurt to pick up a little around here anyway-won't hurt if we all chip in. I don't know. I said I hadn't seen him in a while. He's a law student now... I guess he's probably Bud's size. You know young man, mid to late 20's."

"Law student!?" Kelly's ears perked up, ignoring the tv now. "Is he handsome?"

"Unh-uhn-uhn! Young lady. No incest here." Peggy clucked while waving a finger. "This isn't the middle ages."

"Well it could be the middle class at least." Bud teased. He laughed at his original joke. The usual den of laughs and conversational interjections ensued.

"First cousins aren't considered'"

"Depends on the culture."

"Not THIS culture." Peg threw in her two cents.

"...well, yeah nevermind. Kinda gross... Maybe he'll have lawyer friends!" Kelly's demeanor was reignited.

"Come on you guys. I'll even help out." Al volunteered as he began to spruce up the livingroom.

Outside, a Volkswagen Beetle slowly puffs its way down the street. A large hand wipes the window from inside to clear the view. The Beetle turns onto a residential street, slows as the driver checks out the address, then whips into the driveway.

The engine dies and for a moment there's silence. It's quiet in the neighborhood. Off in the distant though, the sound of the city can be heard: Heavy machinery, train cars jostling, even saws or the occasional honking horn.

The little car shook and squeaked back and forth as the tall handsome man emerged. He wears slacks and a dressy sweater with a tie underneath. He brings his coat with him.

Before he can reach the door, someone's face shows through the glass, and begins opening up to him. "Oh-Ted! It's good to see you!" Peggy feigned excitement. She holds the door open as he lets himself in.

"Why thank you." He chuckled. "You must be aunt Peggy."

"Of course!"

"Peg, you can't expect him remembering you holding him as a toddler." Al interrupted, moving in to do the handshake hug thing. Ted's a pro after years of political hob knobbing. He doesn't think twice about it.

"I remember him being smooth. He was polished-like everything he said or did was calculated." Kelly's voice narrates. "He was handsome too."

We see Kelly standing back, eagerly observing, her eyes taking him in. Ted notices her. "Hi, I'm Ted."

"Something in him made me feel uneasy. but I ignored it, since he seemed so charming." Kelly's voice continues. "Besides, he was family."

"Have a seat. Take a load off." Al offered, gesturing to the livingroom.

"I'll have dinner ready in a bit." Peggy hurried to the kitchen.

Minutes later we see them all gathered around the family dining table.

"So, yeah. That's how I helped him win the governor's race for Washington State." Ted grinned as he finished his story. Everyone seems pleased. Kelly smiles down at her neglected food to grab a morsel with her fork.

"That's a heck of a story." Al congratulated.

"Sure beats selling shoes." Peggy barbed her husband.

Al's eyes cut her quickly with anger but he didn't lose his cool.

Bud came to the rescue, "Like those soap opera stories?" He was being more playful though.

Conceding defeat, as everyone laughed, Peggy bowed out early. "Yeah-yeah."

"I bet you know how to change oil on a car though." Ted offered diplomatically, while being self-effacing.

"I know a thing or two." Al dabbed his mouth with a napkin.

"We all have our strengths and weaknesses." Ted continued, turning his smile on Kelly as he talked.

"He timed it so I caught his innuendo. His 'weakness' was me, I thought; or women at least." Kelly' narrates. "I thought he might have something for me, ya know?"

"Ready for desert?" Peggy asked, to no one in particular, although it seemed addressed to their guest.

Once the meal and conversation had winded down, and it seemed everyone was ready to head their own separate way, Ted spoke up. "Speaking of oil. Do you know of a good mechanic who might-"

"Oh, no!" Al interrupted. "No way. I'll help you in the garage. Save your money. Well, I know you're going to be a lawyer and all but don't waste your money. I'll be glad to show you."

"really? Thanks." Ted seemed genuinely surprised by the unexpected help.

"Sure. Just pull your uh, 'car' up. Yours isn't in the way is it Bud?"

"No sir."

"Okay. I'll be right in. Want me to take these?" Ted picked up his plate.

"Oh no! I won't let you." Peggy chided him, placing one hand on his shoulder as she took his plate. Ted shakes almost as if a jolt ran through his body. Peggy just raises her eyebrows, chalking it off to nervousness and walks back into the kitchen.

The scene is a montage of the different family members now, Peggy moving dishes, Kelly helping then, going upstairs, Bud, then Al going into the garage. as Kelly's voiceover continues in the background. The scene ends with Peggy watching tv on the couch, then Ted coming in from the garage with a hammer in his hand. He looks a bit winded, a wild look sparkles in his eye as he wipes his mouth with the back of his other hand. He's salivating.

"By then I'm really not sure what happened. I had gone upstairs, so just assume they did whatever it is when you change oil in a car." Kelly continues her story. The audio sounds like the mic is really hot, picking up the chairs creaking occasionally, popping, even the wheels of the tape recorder rolling itself, the hum of electricity.

"I had gone upstairs to check my hair and makeup again, but by the time I was through I wasn't sure if I was really even interested in him anymore. He was too nice, ya know? I like a challenge. Plus, I had really thought more about how he was a cousin, and the excitement had already started wearing off so I didn't think I was interested and so wanted to get out.

I was grabbing my purse when I thought I heard something loud come from the garage. It sounded like someone yelling. I was headed that way anyway, so went to see if dad needed something.

I could hear the television on in the livingroom, but don't recall seeing mom watching it. I just assumed she was either laying on the couch or-I did hear someone in the kitchen so probably thought it was her. It sounded like they were cleaning up. Water was running.

I peeked through the side door window into the garage and could see Bud's legs sticking out from underneath Ted's car. There was a large dark pool, of what I thought... what I thought was-"

"Oil?" Someone else's voice offers. It sounds like that of a middle aged man.

"Yes... there was a big pool of it on the cement floor of the garage."

We see the garage now, through Kelly's eyes. One man's upper body is half concealed by the car, underneath it. His legs are hanging out. The other seems to be laying on top of the engine, inspecting down inside. The shot narrows in now, on the man lying on top of the engine. He's unmoving. His head is posed facing the opposite wall, so his expression is unseen from Kelly's angle.

We get a close-up shot of Kelly's face, her nose and forehead wrinkle up, and her upper lip curls back, a look of unbelief on her face. She seems perplexed, and gazes in more carefully now.

As her vision focuses we see things through her line of vision again-on the mysterious liquid, dripping. It appears to be coming from somewhere inside his shirt, running out, running down the man's arm. dripping from his elbow onto the cement floor.

The camera angle changes, to face in towards the house, to show him now, the wild look of bewilderment frozen on Al Bundy's face.

The camera pans downward. Two wrinkled legs from a pair of pantyhose lay strewn out from underneath the car on that side. Bud's neck is wrapped with them, his eyes are bulging. His face is dark.

"When I saw it I knew. I knew what it was." Kelly narrates.

"It was blood." The detective helps her, coaxing. almost asking.

Kelly's voice continues. "I knew I couldn't go in there. If I did I wouldn't come out. I had to go. I had to-"

Kelly turns, calm now, but uneasy. Her demeanor belies her true feelings, but her mask slips as her name is called. She jumps also, from the shock of who's standing behind her.

"Kelly... Going somewhere?" Ted asks playfully.

"Uhm, yeah. I was thinking of getting out-"

"Ditching me already? Your poor cousin."

"Heh-yeah. Uhm."

"Why not hang out with me a bit longer? I'm stuck here too, until your dad and brother finish up, at least." He nodded toward the direction of the garage.

Kelly nods quietly, feigning ignorance. "Ok... what did you have in mind?"

"Mind showing me the rest of the house?" It's nice."

"Sure." Kelly started up the stairs. As they head up, the camera pans back towards the couch. Ted's sweater rest on the back of it, front down; not there previously when the entertaining was going on.

The angle changes again to show us Peggy's body laying sideways across the couch, almost like someone sleeping. Her eyes are open, staring blankly at the tv. A large dark spot of blood clearly marks where she had been sitting previously, Ted's sweater strategically placed to cover the top so no one from that angle would know. The back of her head looks deformed, and her hair their is disheveled. The screen keeps changing, mindlessly showing television scenes and commercials, reflecting in her eyes.


	2. A Killer's View

We see the same scene again. A snow covered Chicago suburb, and Volkswagen Beetle driving down the street. Trains, construction, and other typical city sounds can be heard in the distance.

An tape recorder clicks, and background noise almost erupts, as the narrator's voice dubs over the audio. The tape continues to spin a moment.

"...Now?" The first voice asks.

"Yes, now. Sure." A different male voice.

Ted's voice resumes, tenuous, whispering, strained as if he's having trouble speaking, "Okay, so he proceeded down the street, just outside Chicago, to his uncle's house."

The scene continues playing out again, much the same way it had before. The Beetle rocks and groans under his weight, as Ted emerges; awkwardly, like a reptilian monster hatching from its egg.

He's greeted, and invited in.

"They were so kind. Everything was great. He didn't know why he did what he did. It was the entity taking over him."

Everyone is laughing and talking as they welcome Ted and introduce each other in the foyer.

"He had really never knew them-His mother having moved out to Washington state, and all. They just had separate lives. You know how life is. He noticed the young daughter-How beautiful she was, but he could feel her mother's eyes on him."

We see a different angle, a shot not previously seen when Kelly had narrated. Peggy's hand rests on Ted's back, then slides lower to his lower back.

"I'll have dinner ready in a bit." Peggy says, then leaves for the kitchen.

"Physical touch made him uneasy." Ted's voice continues narrating in the background as we see a close up of his face heading towards the living room. It's a deadpan stare. He's obviously in thought, maybe uneasy.

"He sat on their sofa, answered the barrage of their questions calmly, but he had already made up his mind: He was going to kill them."

The Bundy's erupt into laughter at the television program. Ted joins in, glancing around as if checking them out, especially Kelly.

Her shirt is a bit low cut, relaxed, and she's leaning back on the couch towards his direction slightly, as if enticing him unintentionally.

"okay, it's about ready to serve, if everyone wants to go ahead to the table." Peggy called from the kitchen. As she walks in she shot a look of jealousy at Kelly.

"Dinner was wonderful. He regaled them with some of his stories working for the governor of Washington's political campaign-ya know gave them an inside view, while embellishing his own contributions to it of course."

As the dinner winds down, and dishes begin to disappear, Peggy brings out some desert, vanilla ice-cream.

"Something about the way she'd asked him about desert earlier intrigued him. It was as if she'd propositioned him-as if she were in competition for him."

"This is where his dilemma occurred."

"Dilemma?"

"Yes... they showed him kindness, and even offered to change the oil in his car for him. He started not wanting to kill them... but-"

"But what?"

"The entity wouldn't let him..."

Next thing we see is Peg watching Donahue when Ted comes back in, from the garage. The camera focuses on him, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. He's perspirating, breathing a bit more heavily than normal for inside.

"Oh! You scared me." Peg laughs coyly, looking up at him.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not." She sat up on the couch, moving her feet so he could sit down.

"He stood there mulling it over in his head."

Ted leans onto the back of the couch, inches from Peg's face. "Sounds like they might be busy a while. VW's a foreign car you know?" He shot her a smile.

Narrowing her eyes, Peg seems giddy, and steals a glance towards the garage, smiling back, looking mischievous.

The camera focuses on the hammer in his left hand as it rises up, then changes to Kelly, upstairs putting the final touches on her appearance.

"... He waited some time for the daughter to make her way down. Eventually, she did, and started for the garage. But then she did something surprising, something unexpected."

Kelly pauses at the door, staring through the glass. We see her, the camera looking over the shoulder from behind Ted.

"But she wouldn't go in. He didn't know how she knew, but she did."

Kelly turns and jumps just slightly noticing Ted. "Oh, hi."

"They're still working on it." Ted shrugs. "Nice house though. Mind showing me around a bit?"

"Sure..."

"Blocked by him standing in the way, it was inferred that she lead him upstairs. There footsteps seemed to be the only sounds in the world as they climbed higher-higher."

Kelly glances from the master bedroom door to the bathroom across the hallway. "Parents." She motioned to the left. "My room is at the end."

"Why don't you take me there?"

Kelly seizes up, almost doubling over. "One sec. I need to stop by the restroom a second, please."

As the door shuts behind her, she turns the lock, and continues talking through it. "Make yourself at home... Gosh, I think it was something from dinner."

Ted actually walks into her room a moment, a typical teenage girl's bedroom. He glances around, but then returns to the bathroom door, and tests the knob gently.

Inside, she puts the lid down on the toilet, then stands on top of it. Kelly looks through the window, at her options, then tries to figure out how to get the window open.

The frame is warped from years of the wood heating up and cooling from the weather. It squeals as she gets it open halfway. The sound of outside noise spills in, along with the cold air.

"Something was up. She was trying to fool him, he knew when she had went in, but he figured she was trapped inside the bathroom. He took the hammer and-"

"Help! Hellp!" She yells out the window.

Wham! Wham! The thuds from the hammer impacting the doorknob echoes through the bathroom. Kelly shrieks, cringing at the sound, then resumes, pushing up on the frame with more urgency. It's barely budging, barely giving in to her demands.

Cling-cling! The doorknob pops off and bounces across the floor, as the door is flung open. By now, half of Kelly's body is through the window.

"He lunged for her legs. That was all he could grab onto as she went through the window."

We see the action from inside the bathroom, Kelly sitting on the roof, Ted has one of her legs still, fumbling to keep her from getting away. She draws her leg up towards her and comes down hard on Ted's face, stamping him viciously. By now, his left hand has the hammer raised, poised to strike, but the kick stuns him.

Kelly stamps again, striking his nose with ferocity. We hear a sickening crack, and Ted falls down, somewhere inside the bathroom.

Kelly leans back, on the roof, catching her breath-her breath escaping in plumes of smoke.

Somewhere in the distance the shrill siren of a police car wines, closer, steadily closer. She steadies herself and waves it down.

"... What happened then?"

"What happened then? I woke up in a Chicago jail with thieves, rapists, and felons. And now I'm here telling you this story."

People in the movie theatre get up. Chairs squeak. Popcorn sprinkles down, someone groans in irritation. Oversized drink cups slosh with watered down ice.

The music for Halloween plays for some mysterious reason.

THE END


End file.
